Headlines

The UK-based launch services provider Orbex has entered insolvency proceedings after a planned takeover by European space logistics startup The Exploration Company fell through, EuropeanSpaceFlight.com reported. In December 2025, The Exploration Company entered negotiations to acquire Orbex.

South Korea's Bithumb said on Wednesday that serious flaws had left the crypto exchange's internal system susceptible to potential sabotage and failed to prevent an erroneous transfer of more than $40 billion in assets last week, Reuters reported. The country's second-largest virtual asset exchange said it accidentally gave away about 620,000 bitcoins to customers during a promotional event, instead of 620,000 won ($426), triggering a 17% slump in bitcoin's price.

The European Parliament gave its first major backing to the digital euro on Tuesday, endorsing the European Council's negotiating stance for a central bank digital currency with both online and offline functionality, Reuters reported. The endorsement matters because the European Central Bank needs Parliament's legislative approval before it can issue a digital euro, meaning its goal of a 2029 launch depends on lawmakers signing off.

An arts-based charity in Glasgow has officially declared itself insolvent. The remaining trustees of the Centre for Contemporary Arts (CCA) have published an insolvency notice, with a petition provided to the court on February 3 to Glasgow Sheriff Court, TFN.scot reported. Louise Dorothy Norris, Kirstine Mairi Ogg and Dr Paola Pasino applied to have the company wound up by the court. Parties have eight days from intimation of the notice - published on February 10 - to lodge an interest. Read more.

Brazil's federal audit court TCU has completed a technical review of the central bank's handling of Banco Master's liquidation and found no reservations or recommendations regarding the regulator's conduct, Reuters reported. The central bank did not immediately reply to a request for comment. The audit court said in a statement that the case is confidential and that no further information is available.

The European Union must simplify its regulations to make the bloc more competitive against the likes of the United States and China, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said ahead of summits of EU political ‌and business leaders, Reuters reported. EU growth has been persistently lower than that of the United States over the past two decades, with EU productivity and innovation, ‌particularly in fields like AI, falling short. "Let me take the U.S. example again. One financial system, one financial capital," von der Leyen said on Wednesday.

The European Commission has imposed additional duties on imported electric vehicles made in China since 2024, though under European Union rules carmakers can now negotiate tariff exemptions for individual electric models imported from China, Reuters reported. In February 2026 the Commission approved, in a first such move, a request by Volkswagen's Cupra brand to free its Tavascan SUV coupe, which is made in China, from import tariffs in exchange for a minimum price and annual quota model.

Taiwan’s exports showed no signs of slowing at the start of 2026, rising at the fastest pace in 16 years for the first month of the year as AI demand continues unabated, the Wall Street Journal reported. Exports rose 69.9% in January from a year earlier, official data showed Monday, topping the 52.2% increase expected in a Wall Street Journal poll of economists and logging the fastest pace of growth since early 2010.

A Dutch court on Wednesday ordered an investigation into mismanagement at chipmaker Nexperia BV ‌and upheld an October decision to suspend former CEO Zhang Xuezheng, the ‌founder of Nexperia's Chinese parent Wingtech, saying that the company needs stability, Reuters reported. The decision leaves control of the company ​in the hands of the European team that has overseen it since a Dutch state intervention led to a conflict over the firm that has disrupted automotive industry supply lines around the world.

The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority said Tuesday that it had begun legal proceedings against HTX, the crypto exchange founded by Tron creator Justin Sun, for “illegally promoting crypto asset services to UK consumers,” Decrypt.com reported. The action comes under rules enacted in October 2023 that mandate firms providing crypto services comply with measures to protect consumers from “unfair and misleading marketing.” The regulator said in a statement it had previously warned HTX, formerly known as Huobi, about its advertising in the UK.